Don't look now but the Laurentian Lady Vees soccer team may just be ready to jump into the limelight so often enjoyed by the school's men's soccer program. With their 1-0 win Sunday over the Brock Badgers, the Lady Vees continued to improve on a pair of impressive streaks. Seven games into their 2004 OUA season, the team has yet to relinquish a single goal against in fashioning a 3-0-4 record.
They also join the University of Western Ontario as the only two unbeaten squads among the seventeen womens soccer teams competing for provincial supremacy. The Mustangs were ranked third in the country entering weekend play and it is not inconceivable that Laurentian's weekend results could result in a top ten ranking in the weeks ahead. Sunday's game saw the ladies capitalize on a free kick as veteran Jolene Fournier scored the game's only goal while Sudburian Julia Boschetto recorded her fourth shutout of the season.
"This was a big win against a very solid club" noted Laurentian head coach Rob Gallo. The long-time ladies bench boss was extremely pleased with the work of rookie Erin Wilkes, who saw plenty of playing time up front and created a ton of pressure on the Badgers defenders. "This was without a doubt her best game" said Gallo. After losing sweeper Sarah Little to injury near the fifteen minute mark, Gallo also received a strong performance from Jen Carbone who stepped in to help Laurentian defensively.
"The team continues to play tremendous defensive soccer" explained Gallo, who also highlighted the play of both Cara Smith and Claire Miller. And while there was a time that a scoreless draw would have constituted a moral victory for Laurentian, such is not the case in 2004 according to Gallo. "We still aren't finishing the chances like we should - with a little luck, we could really be 7-0 at this point. We are still going through a growing period and the girls need to believe that they can win every single game" stated Gallo. "But this was a huge confidence builder."
The Lady Vees resume league play after enjoying Thanksgiving weekend off, facing York and Toronto on October 16th and 17th before closing out their season against Nipissing University. Meanwhile, in men's action, Carlo Castrechino and the Laurentian Voyageurs continued to be plagued by inconsistency, falling 2-1 to the Brock Badgers after downing McMaster one day earlier. Shane Kerrigan opened the scoring for Brock eight minutes in and added a second goal midway through the second half as Laurentian "just took too long to get started" according to Castrechino.
The hometown Voyageurs would not hit the scoreboard until late in the game as Matthew Boulton drew Laurentian to within one but despite a strong push in the final fifteen minutes, Laurentian was unable to gain a tie. Voyageurs highlights included a penalty kick save by Will Lucia while defender Jeffrey Collins was named Laurentian Player of the Game.
In other university action, the men's basketball team opened exhibition play with a pair of victories in Sault Ste Marie, clipping the Sault College Cougars 80-70 before thumping Algoma College Thunderbirds 100-53. Saturday, veterans Brody Bishop and Ben Palmer paced the Voyageurs attack with 16 points each while Andy Greig added fifteen. Sunday's dominating performance saw Greig lead Laurentian with 20, Lucas Wiebenga chip in with 17 and Palmer post a second consecutive 16-point game.
Rookie centre Jonathan Rass also netted 12 points as coach Virgil Hill was able to fully utilize his bench. "This was an exciting start to the exhibition schedule for us. These two wins have given us more confidence as we head towards the start of OUA regular season action" said Hill. Laurentian league play tips off on November 1st, playing host to two-time Canadian champion Carleton Ravens.
